The present invention relates generally to computerized systems for expediting the shipping of goods in commerce. More particularly, the invention relates to a computerized logistics system for managing and integrating various aspects of order processing, order fulfillment and goods transportation and tracking.
In the past, computerized systems for expediting the shipping of goods have fallen into two rather diverse categories. At the low cost end of the spectrum have been the standalone postage meters and mail manifest systems used by small businesses to automate the package weighing and carrier manifest printing functions. At the other end of the spectrum are the mainframe computer-based systems employed by large nationwide mail order merchandisers. At both ends of the spectrum the systems have had a number of limitations.
The standalone mail manifesting systems are limited in that they are designed to automate only the shipping functions such as printing mailing label and mailing manifest by the shipping clerk or shipping department. As such, the conventional standalone system was not integrated with the customer order department or with the order fulfillment and order packaging departments. Hence, conventional standalone systems have lacked the ability to take order size, package size or time in transit into account when selecting the least cost carrier.
Large mainframe order processing systems are also limited. Due to the complexity of mainframe computer architecture and associated software systems, it is not practical to use these solutions in the small or moderate sized business environment. Mainframe-based systems often require years to develop and to customize for a particular organization's needs. Thereafter, large data processing departments are needed to maintain the system and keep it operational.
The present invention provides a high-performance, cost-effective logistics system which is readily adaptable to a wide variety of different organizations. The system is suitable for deployment on a single, standalone computer or on a computerized network comprising many computers. Among the advantages of the present system are (1) substantial reduction in freight costs; (2) a major increase in fulfillment accuracy; (3) convenient order tracking to facilitate warranty, lot and serial number tracking; (4) improved customer service; (5) a readily customizable system which can be adapted to virtually any shipping operation; (6) a robust system having a long useful life; (7) graphical user interface screens for easy training and use; and (8) greatly reduced implementation costs in a system with increased effectiveness.
As more fully described herein, the logistics management system of the invention facilitates the process of shipping goods by a shipper having a predefined set of shipping requirements via a carrier having a predefined rate structure. The system employs a multitasking operating system environment for running a plurality of computer processes substantially simultaneously. The environment has a means for interprocess communication whereby messages may be passed between the computer processes. A supervisory server, running in the operating system environment, provides registration services to connect one or more computer processes to the interprocess communication mechanism. The system further employs at least one rate server, also running in the operating system environment, substantially simultaneously with the supervisory server. The rate server or servers provide access to carrier rate structure data and also provide predefined data processing services using the carrier rate structure data in response to a predefined set of request messages. The predefined data processing services include the providing of response messages based at least in part on the carrier rate structure data. More specifically, the rate server or servers have registration means for communicating with the supervisory server to invoke the registration services of the supervisory server and thereby establish a connection to the interprocess communication means. In the presently preferred embodiment there is one rate server for each carrier (e.g., U.S. Postal Service, Federal Express, United Parcel Service, etc.) and these servers are provided with a complete knowledge base of all rate structure data and shipping rules and regulations pertaining to that carrier.
In addition to the supervisory server and one or more rate servers, the logistics managements system also includes at least one client process running in the operating system environment substantially simultaneously with the supervisory server and also with the rate server or servers. The client process has a user interface for collecting input information from a user about a desired operation and for providing output information. More specifically, the client process also has registration means for communicating with the supervisory server, to invoke the registration services of the supervisory server, and thereby establish a connection to the interprocess communication means. The client process has a preprogrammed set of rules which are reflective of a given shipper's predefined set of shipping requirements. The client process also has a processing means for using the preprogrammed set of rules and using at least a portion of the input information to issue request messages to one or more rate servers and to interpret response messages received from the rate servers in order to provide the output information. In the presently preferred embodiment the client process is preprogrammed with a knowledge base to reflect the shipping organization's rules, regulations and practices. In this way, the client process presents a familiar view of day-to-day operations, as seen by the organization's personnel who are responsible for taking orders, packaging goods and shipping goods to customers. Because the sometimes complex rules and regulations of the carriers are fully handled by the rate servers, users interacting with the client process do not need to have a full and complete understanding of the carrier's rules and regulations in order to properly ship goods in a cost-effective and timely manner.
As more fully set forth herein, the supervisory server, the rate server or servers and the client process or processes are interoperable through the interprocess communication means (a) to receive input information from a user via the user interface of the client process, (b) to use the input information to issue a request message to the rate server via the interprocess communication means, (c) to process the issued request message and thereby cause a response message to be generated by the rate server, (d) to send the response message to the client process via the interprocess communication means, and (e) to provide output information based on the response message. The output information can range from simply displaying information on a screen to the user, to printing a mailing label or manifest or to updating records in a company database.
For a more complete understanding of the invention, its objects and advantages, reference may be had to the following specification and to the accompanying drawings.